George Washington's First Inauguration (1789)

New York City was the nation’s first capitol and the site of the first presidential inauguration. Standing near a mural of Federal Hall’s frontage on Wall Street, families enter the time and place of George Washington’s first swearing-in.

Kids and adults admire a painting showing the beautiful wrought-iron balustrade where Washintgon stood in full view of the crowds below. Then kids recite the dramatically to-the-point oath of office that the U.S. Constitution requires of all incoming presidents.